Page 96 of Home Field Advantage
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yep. I’m sorry, I’m just a little shocked you’re standing here.”
His lips turn up into a smirk.
“I mean, I’m not sorry,” I say quickly, knowing exactly what that face means.
“Yes, you are,” he says, side-stepping me as he makes his way into my house. Normally, this would drive me nuts, but not with him. I want him here. “And it’s okay. I sort of dropped by unannounced here. But I brought you something.”
“You did?”
I look down at his extended hand, and he has a puzzle for me. One thousand pieces of a baseball themed puzzle. On the bottom are a few fans facing a field, and players scattered across it. But that’s not what draws me to it the most. There are mountains in the background. Beautiful mountains paint the sky behind it, and the box is titledField of Dreams.
“You got this for me?”
“I saw it at the General Store yesterday when I was there. I immediately thought of you,” he smiles, looking down at the puzzle still in his hands. “So I had to get it for you.”
My heart stumbles in my chest—no, it flutters—as if it’s forgotten how to properly beat in a regular rhythm, because Dallas thought of me. He remembered, or noticed, or whatever. Either way, he saw me and the things that bring me the most joy and got it for me.
I take the box in my hand, it’s nothing but a cardboard box, but it’s also someone whispering my name in a silent room. Something that may seem minor to someone feels so loud to me.
Because he remembered.
“Dallas,” I whisper, keeping my eyes on the box, afraid I might cry if I look at him.
“Poppy, what is it?”
I shake my head, the tear escapes on its own, and I want to wipe it away, but I don’t want him to know that a silly puzzle has made me this emotional. Instead, I turn my face away from him, but he stops me. My chin between his fingers, urging me to look up at him. My eyes are closed, keeping everything put together so he doesn’t see me.
But he does.
Dallas sees all of me.
I open my eyes, and there’s a serious expression on his face. His fingers don’t leave my chin, holding me in place. “I can’t seem to stop thinking about you.”
“You can’t?”
He shakes his head. “You’ve been the first thought in my head when I wake up and brew my morning coffee, and the last thought I have before my head hits the pillow at night. Most of the time, I find myself thinking about you without meaning to.”
I swallow, but everything feels thick in my throat at his admission. “Is that why you’re here? Wait, where is Sage?”
“I dropped her off with her mom for the night earlier today,”he pauses, assessing my features. “And that’s part of the reason why I’m here.”
Silence stretches between us with his answer, except for the pounding in my chest. His eyes bore into mine, and my body heats with the intensity of his stare. The air is thick with tension, like a lightning bolt waiting for its chance to strike.
Then it hits me, he’s waiting for me.
He’s giving me the control I desperately crave.
“Kiss me, Dallas.”
“Thank fuck,” he practically growls.
He erases the space between us and crashes his lips to mine. It’s not soft or careful this time. My fingers grip his shirt as his lips part, stealing every breath I’m willing to give him. My body melts into him, and I feel the kiss down every part of me, making my knees feel weak. He angles my head at just the right amount to deepen the kiss, making me feel like I’m being pulled underwater.
My control slips. I no longer think, I just feel.
I welcome it, love it,needit.
